
(Epic) Before he was a rapper, Melly Mike was a two-time U.S. Army Soldier of the Year with a promotion to sergeant on the table, and turned it down anyway. Today, the rising Minneapolis artist releases his third single with Epic Records, "All I Need," an unrelenting new anthem that shows exactly why that gamble paid off, and further proof he's just getting started.
Where "The Same" leaned into growth and "God's Time" leaned into faith, "All I Need" channels hunger, the drive to keep pushing even as the wins pile up. It's the mindset of an artist who simply wants more, born from having walked away from a guaranteed career once, and refusing to settle for anything less now.
Powered by scorching synths and thunderous drums, the track hits with explosive force, perfect for a mosh pit, as Melly leans further into the genre-bending sound that's become his signature, part rage rap, part rock aggression, with verses that give way to melody. The result is his boldest and most restless record yet, another sign that the artist behind last year's biggest viral moment has range to spare.
None of it came easy. Raised by Liberian immigrants in small-town Minnesota, Melly grew up in a home rich in love but stretched thin on money, finding his outlet after school in the library, losing himself in music and manga while he figured out where he fit. Where he'd struggled in the classroom, he found discipline in uniform, enlisting in the U.S. Army straight out of high school and earning the Soldier of the Year distinction twice during a six-year run that shaped who he'd become.
What happened next was something no one could have scripted. He wrote "Young Black & Rich" from the lowest point of his life, an affirmation set to 5 a.m. runs and cold showers, never expecting it to become the soundtrack to a global phenomenon once 11-year-old Indonesian boat racer Rayyan Arkan Dikha danced to it online. The song has since racked up tens of millions of streams and counting, gone top 50 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, landed its own Fortnite emote, and sent Melly back to Indonesia as the Pacu Jalur festival's Global Ambassador, the kid who once wrote his way through it, standing at the scene of the moment that changed everything.
That success led to a deal with Epic Records, where he made his label debut with "The Same" and followed it with "God's Time," a tribute to his late friend Jorge Munoz-Pederson, drawing coverage from Billboard, Complex, VIBE, Rolling Out, and Apple Music along the way. Now, with "All I Need," his momentum keeps building, with a fanbase that already includes NFL superstar Travis Kelce and streaming star iShowSpeed.
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